Man, Is It Ever Dry!
We have been very busy around here with the CSA and adding the Saturday Farmers Market to the list of things to do has made it seem busier than ever. It seems there is little time to do much of anything else, least of all blogging. However, we’ve had a serious game delay do to the lack of rain here in the last couple of weeks, and this has given me a second to finally blog.
Produce Update
So here’s the latest news from the produce section of the farm…the plants, already tired from a long season of growth and production, are really starting to show the effects of this mini drought. The tomatoes are all but done, with the late blight having been very bad this year. The blight has had quite an effect on the longevity of the tomato plants. Normally we would have tomatoes up until frost. Not so now.
The summer squash have all but given up. Whatever disease they got coupled with the lack of moisture did them all in. The corn, what there was of it, is nothing but a memory. The last of the watermelons will be sent out tomorrow and the peppers are also singing their swan song.
All is not bad news if we could just get some rain. There could be some late rallying of some old plants if some moisture came our way. There are some young plants that have been in a bit of a holding pattern waiting for rain since being planted a month ago. Carrots, beets, baby bok choy, diakon, okra, kale, gia lan, lettuce and turnips all would jump to life with a good, slow, soaking rain of about 2 days.
Poultry Update
Meanwhile, over in the poultry division… the quail are doing fine. The raccoon situation has been brought under control, at least for the time being. My guess is they’re out there regrouping somewhere, cleaning and pressing their little bandit masks in preparation for another raid on the quail hotel. But paranoia can be crippling, so I try not to think about it.
We hatched out thirty-eight quail chicks last week and I just put another load into the incubator, another 109 eggs. This should take us through the winter unless I get an order for adult birds from one of the culinary schools.
The baby chickens we hatched last spring are starting to mature now and have been laying about three eggs a day. This is very “eggciting” for us here at the farm with Sherry being darn near euphoric. I do so hope that three is not the standing record for a days worth of effort from our flock of nearly forty biddies, that would be mighty disappointing, I must say.
The electrified wire netting fence that we have around the chicken’s barnyard is doing a wonderful job so far of controlling land-based varmints from noshing on the resident poultry. I would highly recommend this product to anyone that is having depredation problems (or maybe even a teenage daughter) or has given up on (like I had) the idea of having small livestock due to high losses from outside sources. Turns out this electric wire fence is not just for chickens, but can be used for goats, sheep, wombats, whatever suits you. One of the best things about this fence is that it’s portable; so you can keep the critter of your choice on fresh pasture all of the time. It’s brilliant.
Well, the sun has risen to signal the start of a new day here at the funny farm, so I shall go out and meet it’s challenges head on, fueled by the scripture “This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice in it.”
I’m done talk’n, --Matt
